23-on-23 May 23, 2015.... and 2.4GHz plus activation?

[VK4MJF]

The CRO and myself will be @ QG62mk(Mt Gravatt) 23cm 2.4 and 10Ghz @ suggested time 2-5 pm good time to power up the gear for the winter field day.

[VK4EA]

Would everybody participating (VK4CRO, VK4MIL, VK4KJJ, VK4LHD, VK4WIS, VK4WIE, VK4UH), please create update their /p profile.... I will be heavily reliant on the vklogger op-info/mapping for dish pointing.

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[VK4CZ]

Done.... VK4CZ/P updated to QG63id75!

Should be onsite from 1pm (but am trying for an earlier arrival) if early morning bottling appointment at the micro-brewery goes to plan!

[VK4UH]

For 23rd May 2015

VK4UH and VK4MIL will be QRV as VK4UH/p from a suitable clear site on the ridge at Toowoomba

QG62am

Weather permitting using 1.2 2.4 10 and 24 GHz. May also take 5.7if only to locate the new beacon

SSB and digi capability.

Will have 2m FM (147.000 rptr or 146.550 FM simplex) and 30/40m SSB for liaison with mobile phone backup

Anticipated on-site by 11:30

KJ

[VK4BG]

VK4BG will be on 23cm, listening primarily South, unless someone alerts me to activity to my North. Located at QG64JQ86 ( Hervey Bay ). Monitoring 1296.100, with the ability to " look " at the band via a panadaptor on my KX3, so I'll tune to anything I see above .100 if required. I'm rubidium locked, so I should be pretty close to on frequency. Presently running 35W at the power divier to two 16 element yagis. I can just hear the Brissy Beacon 24/7, and Trevor, 4AFL is an easy QSO, but on a generally very favorable path from here.

73
Glenn
VK4BG

[ZL1RQ]

I plan on being active from Mt Crosby weather permitting. 1296 2.4 and 10GHz
Should be on air by 1330 local.

Regards
Alan VK4WR

[VK4UH]

We will also run the logger via 4G while portable

[VK4EA]

Suggest listening on 7150kHz, I'd like to know whether HF liason is viable.

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[VK4CZ]

Packed and ready to roll out for 23-on-23.



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[VK4BG]

You need a second set of plates for that rig Scotty...23-CMS

[VK4BG]

I was listening from 11.30am local, and heard VK2MAX off an aircraft ping at roughly 12.20pm, then absolutely nothing till I was about to give it up after letting my DVR do the Cq'ing from 2pm till just before 3pm every 30 seconds, when things at last happened...worked VK4LHD then VK4WT, then VK4AFL. The Brissy beacon was down to almost unreadable, so the day was not a good one for propagation from this QTH. Trevor, 4AFL was the strongest, at around 5/7-5/8 and I was apparently weaker than I usually am at his QTH.

Working on my 150W Amp, but that will be a little further down the track before it is tested on hanging on the wall out the back.

73
Glenn
VK4BG

[VK4CZ]

Back home.... a few contacts made but I was a little disappointed.

Whilst sitting 600mASL, in a paddock and with views as far as you could see... I had S9 noise in most directions on 2.4GHz was enough to give you the sh!ts. A Telstra tower with large dish the only potential source.

Moved 100m along the ridge, but behind some trees. A few 23 and 13cm Qs completed.

Best 2.4GHz to VK4UH/P near Toowoomba.

First position, with clear views and no trees:


Second position, and the path to Toowoomba:



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[VK4CLG]

Well I guess things could have been a little bit better my end if I wasn't being hounded by 30-40 Knot winds. It made life difficult when I had the mic in one had and holding the tripod and antenna in the other hand and had one foot on the table trying to stop the laptop from blowing away.
I only put a very basic setup together and concentrated on 1296, 2.4 and 10Ghz. I did have one attempt at 3.4Ghz with Peter VK4EA but that didn't work but we did ok on 1296 and 10Ghz.
I'm also happy that I made contact with VK4BG in Hervey Bay. It was a nice change to have some far nth contacts instead of just the South.
I had 3 others with me so a big thanks for helping out go's to Les VK4ALH, Ches VK4WT who was also using his 1296 gear and Ian VK4FAED who got his first taste of microwave. He is studying to upgrade to a Standard Licence so maybe we might have another microwave nut joining us soon.

All up I did enjoy the afternoon but would have liked to have made a few more contacts.

Cheers
Robert
VK4LHD

[VK3KGR]

I had a good day, 3 contacts on 10 GHz and 6 on 1296. New PA on 1296 and 10 GHz seemed to work OK. I initially set up on the western side of Mt Mee at Somerset Lookout then moved to the East to Sellin Rd.

Looking forward to next microwave activity, 73 Geoff

[VK4EA]

Very frustrating day for me, my 1296 setup is deaf as a post and I need more power on 23cm & 13cm. Just a little bit of terrian knocks me about.

Tried a few digital modes on 2.4G, heard lots of wifi crud

The bloody wind didn't help much either, the 5.7/10GHz dish went for a tumble despite the 2 litre bottle shellite tied to the tripod, nice dent in the dish.

I couldn't hear any of the Brisbane beacons, on any of the active bands (didn't check 432M).

At least I completed with Robert (VK4LHD) on 2.4 and 10Ghz, 3.4 would have worked if I had plugged in the 10MHz reference, sorry Robert. At that time I had spent 4 hours in the quite brisk breeze listening to a lot of static.

One standout for the day was how well 40m worked as a liason frequency. KJ, VK4UH, and I easily liased using Codan 9350 antennas and 100W radios, well outside the 2m simplex range. Something for all to consider, given our challenging terrain.

I have much work to do.

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[VK4AFL]

I made a few contacts with strong signals but have to say that virtually no effort was made by Brisbane operators to work VK2MAX on 23 cm who at 400 km from Brisbane was the best dx available. Grant [Kempsey] like several others had gone to the trouble of setting up on a high hill in his case with passing showers. He had full internet capability, 150w to an 18dbi antenna & is a proficient operator. I suggested he move to 1296.125 MHz due to considerable traffic on .100 & announced this a few times on the logger & on 1296.100 MHz throughout a good portion of the afternoon. I was able to work him at will without any enhancement & signals were quite strong when a/c were in the right position but the point is that a minimum of a few other stations especially with altitude advantage would have also been able to exchange signal reports without the presence of a/c however I did not hear a single station up here even attempt to make a contact. Likewise VK4BG about 250 km north did not appear to be sought after in particular.
This event is a good idea & I realise is not intended to be a distance based contest nor confined to 23 cm however I am surprised at the apparent lack of interest to fully exploit the potential of this very interesting band which should be the whole point of the exercise. Possibly more activity will promote this & shed the notion that 1296 MHz is a novelty frequency intended for around town or mountain to mountain propagation only.
For testing purposes quite apart from the fun & challenge of it stations such as VK4KAY [Warwick], VK2XN [Narrabri], VK2MAX [Kempsey], VK4DH [Killarney] & VK4BG [Hervey Bay] are available just about every day of the week & most liaise on the logger. Also, on the Sunshine coast, VK4REX & VK4ADM.
Its not a great time of the year for microwave dx but late spring & summer with the associated troppo conditions will improve things a lot.
73`s, Trevor, VK4AFL.

[VK4MJF]

Had a great time yesterday sorry about 2.4 and 10 ghz next time. Didn t manage to contact all operators but looking at the logger after the event from the qth,we were spread far and wide heard MIL and 2MAX but unable to return the contact with them as we were running grid packs only from MtGravatt. Anyway I went back home early and still made some contacts from there. Funny day thats guys and to Grant VK2max for being there.

[VK4CZ]

Whilst numbers were down compared to past weekend 23-on-23/uWave activity days, it was great to see some may make the effort and get out in the field.

Since their inception Weekend 23-on-23 and uWave Activity days not only provide the opportunity and reason to increase participation but also allowed stations to operate /P and also extend path distances by getting to locations that can help alleviate the terrain issues that living away from the coast in Brisbane and SE VK4 has.

Of the 8 stations I worked on 23cm, all but one was /P. On 2.4GHz all stations worked were /P. I believe this rough objective continues to be achieved, but could be better.

I was very disappointed that although I'd shifted QTH to just on 600mASL I failed to hear both Grant VK2MAX and Glenn VK4BG even when I could hear other stations working them. I was convinced that these paths would have been very possible (VK4BG especially given the path profile)... but not a scratch. I did hear Andru VK4KAY though... and again whilst I thought this would have been 'easy' it proved otherwise. All part of the fun and learning.

VK4AFL stated:
but have to say that virtually no effort was made by Brisbane operators to work VK2MAX on 23 cm who at 400 km from Brisbane was the best dx available.

But I disagree with Trevor on this.

I truly don't believe it's a lack of effort (as evidenced by the number of stations that did make the effort to operate /P), rather I believe after operating in numerous of these events that it continues to lie in three main areas:
[*] approach to coordinating on air operating; and
[*]/P station capability.

And for the first time one other area of frustration became evident... the scheduled start time as I also saw some criticism to contacts not being supported at earlier times. This is a challenge for those of us heading out /P (and who've disassembled the home station) as we can't assist in either.

My initial thoughts....
1./ Coordination has been an issue in nearly every past day. Attempts to have a structured work north during X time slot, work south during Y time slot failed. As did band by band slots, mobile phone arranged skeds (as others aren't aware) and as has the free-for-all approach. Yesterday also saw stations being QSYed off the QRGs where others were monitoring for them... and whilst it may have been mentioned or published, when operating /P I know I don't have the laptop right next to me, and in fact only occasionally referred to it, making it hard to work someone if they're not where you thought they'd be TXing. In all cases it is hard to find an approach that suited the majority, let alone everyone. - Let's work on an agreed approach and stick to it!

2./ As for station capability.... we have a lot to learn from our VK3 uWave peers (don't let them hear I said that ). On FD and Activity Days, the stations they established and run put many home stations to shame. Whilst it's fun to get into the field and operate portable, expecting to work more with less is counter intuitive. Location will certainly help, but ERP will rule. And yes, I failed to take my 150w amp on 23cm this time.... it was just another piece of equip I needed to remove from the rack and then reinstall... but will next time!

3./ A start at 2pm was stated in this thread. Let's work to the agreed times. And whilst it was great to see some earlier times were agreed to focus some activity on 24 and 47GHz, so not to interrupt the later preceding. e.g.for me it was a 2hour drive, for VK4UH probably closer to a 3hour drive, so once committed it's hard to make alternative arrangements!

I'll continue to commit to going /P to help provide others with opportunities to work either a new QTH or Grid, and for me to find locations that provide the end point of that path for them. And hopefully by the Winter FD and the next 23-on-23/uWave Activity Day I will also have my 10GHz station with 3w into 600m prime fed dish completed

These are a great event and we can make them better. I for one would be keen to understand what operators believe would assist in making the next weekend 23-on-23 events and uWave activity day better.

Your thoughts?

[VK4KAY]

Thanks to everyone that contributed to the afternoon and especially those that ventured outside in not ideal conditions. Although frustrating at times with trying to get contacts on a not so optimal day (blowing 40-52kmhr here), it can be used as a good educational exercise in finding new sites, paths and testing your equipment and skills in not ideal conditions. Even ground wave was down at least 2 to 3db as RBB beacon decodes indicated this and it wasn't audible. Some days it is audible all day and evenings - even when the outside weather doesn't correspond to what you think it should be to hear it! Take note!!
Still I was able to establish 2 new paths for the future and improve my operating skills in positioning my antenna (windy conditions). 23cm (as should some of the higher freqs) provides lots of surprises - not only with ground paths, but with planes and other temperature related effects from mountain sides/tops and high level ducts. These are some of the interesting contacts I have experienced in the very short time I have operated from this new QTH. As with all microwave bands alot more care and persistence is required to make it happen and yes we will not always succeed the first time - otherwise it would all have been done before.

[VK4REX]

Hi Scott et al.

I went up to Howells at 12 to set up for a contact with Pete on 24 and 47G. After taking out one of the tripods and putting it up only to have it blown over, I made a decision not to proceed as the mm wave gear is too expensive to have damaged. From Peters comments I made the right decision. I then decided to take a drive thru Booroobin to Bellthorpe and waited at the community hall but didn't spot you - was going to say hi. My previous trip to Bellthorpe showed it was no good for mm wave activity due to the tree line, but should have been ok to the south for the bands up to 10G. Surprisingly even from that spot the path profiles are not great in some directions although it was a great shot to Cooran except for the trees.

I don't think we need lessons from the VK3's we all know whats required, it's a well trodden path. What we do need is significantly better planning and coordination. The few MAD days I have played in were bedlam, basically no one knew which band or what frequency to call on and hence contacts were few and far between. This is primarily why I just tried to concentrate on mm wave with Peter and possibly Kevin.

I think fixed time slots for each band, and possibly further segregated to direction so that every one gets a chance of a contact. This is fine for the MAD days but then a different solution needs to be thought out for contest field days as this is a totally different exercise. The other problem is WHAT CALLING FREQUENCY. Is it 100, 150, 200, 225 etc, there seems to be multiple choices again making contacts difficult. There are so few stations operating on a MAD day there is really no need to QSY and make finding other stations more difficult.

My 2 cents worth

Rex